Patrolman Brian Dempsey, who had been the school resource officer at Somerset Berkley Regional High School, has been suspended for five days and removed from that position for misconduct and disobeying an order in that role, Police Chief Joseph Ferreira said Tuesday.

SOMERSET — Patrolman Brian Dempsey, who had been the school resource officer at Somerset Berkley Regional High School, has been suspended for five days and removed from that position for misconduct and disobeying an order in that role, police Chief Joseph Ferreira said Tuesday.

That general order, Ferreira said in a phone interview, is “don’t get involved in personal relationships at the high school when you’re the resource officer.”

The chief divulged little information other than the fact the incident involved a female student who graduated in June from Somerset Berkley Regional High School.

He said Dempsey, who lives in Somerset and is a 2000 graduate of Somerset High School, will return to work Monday and will be reassigned to the patrol division on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift.

As chief, Ferreira said he can issue suspensions for up to five days without the matter going before the town administrator and Board of Selectmen.

He said there could be other internal disciplinary measures that he was not at liberty to give because of personnel confidentiality requirements.

Ferreira said he’d post the full-time school resource officer job, and expected to assign a new officer within two weeks.

Dempsey held the role for about 1½ years. He’s been on the force about five years and worked for several years before that as a police officer in Florida, Ferreira said. Dempsey holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. His annual patrolman’s salary is approximately $50,000, Ferreira said.

The Somerset Berkley District pays 75 percent of that salary under an agreement with the school for a resource officer, he said.

Ferreira did indicate what was not involved with the allegations: “No photos were involved. No physical interaction was involved. No underage drinking. Nothing of that sort,” he said.

Sources told The Herald News on Monday that the incident involved sexting between the officer and the former high school student.

Ferreira said in an interview that day “there’s nothing criminal here.”

Regional district Interim Superintendent Thomas Lynch said Ferreira told him the same information based upon the police internal investigation.

“At least it didn’t go to the next level,” Lynch said while speaking openly about the alleged violations.

Asked about the circumstances, he said, “I have no idea how long it went on for. I’m thankful that the person (the former student) did step forward because we certainly don’t want a predator working in the school.”

She issued the complaint on Feb. 10 to high school administrators. Somerset Berkley Regional High School Principal Jahmal Mosley interviewed her with a female administrator, Lynch said.

Page 2 of 3 - “She came forward because she probably realized as she matured that she did not want it to happen to anybody else,” Lynch said based upon information administrators gave to him. He did not speak with the former student, who is reportedly attending college.

Asked about the explicitness of the sexting messages, Lynch said, “It was highly and extremely inappropriate for a person put in a position of trust to be doing to a student. It’s just unacceptable,” Lynch said.

He said what was most important to him was that Ferreria told him Dempsey will be replaced.

“I am pleased that he will not be working in school any longer. As superintendent, that has to be my No. 1 priority,” Lynch said in a phone interview after returning from an out-of-state educational conference Tuesday afternoon.

He and regional school board Vice Chairwoman Elizabeth White both said they felt it was important to retain a resource officer at the high school. The officer is tasked with diffusing difficult situations and works as a liaison between the school administration, staff and students, as well as the police department, Ferreira said.

Ferreira said Dempsey was suspended after a one-week investigation headed by Capt. Glenn Neto, assisted by Detective Jason Matos, during which time the officer was placed on paid administrative leave. The one-week suspension without pay was meted out early Tuesday, Ferreira said.

He also spoke about what factored into his decision, and cited “punitive action disciplines” listed within the department’s certification by the Massachusetts Accreditation Commission.

Those disciplinary criteria that Ferreira provided include: seriousness of the incident, the circumstances, employee’s disciplinary record, longeveity and overall work performance, impact upon the department the incident causes, probability of future similar problems and involvement of other department employees.

“It was an isolated allegation by one person,” Ferreira said. He said two officers spoke with the young woman and to “probably 10 people overall that heard about it.”

Speaking generally about Dempsey, Ferreira said, “He’s got an excellent record of work. He’s always been a very good police officer. He has no discipline in his file that I can recall.”

In a general comment, Ferreira said, “It’s extremely unfortunate that this occurred. We did our usual procedures of a thorough investigation, and took fair and reasonable and appropriate action.”

Among other disciplines Ferreira said he could take include limiting work venues, such as not working details, and working extra days without pay for the department. Ferreira said under the state statute governing police personnel he was unable to state any such disciplinary actions he took. Lynch notified school officials about Dempsey’s reassignment, including Somerset Superintendent Richard Medeiros, who was informed that Dempsey would not be serving as Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer at Somerset Middle School. He worked with sixth-graders one day a week teaching the DARE program.

Page 3 of 3 - White said she was satisfied with how the incident was handled by school and town officials.

“It’s just unfortunate for things like this to happen. I’m pleased the superintendent and high school principal handled it so quickly and I appreciate the quick action of the police department.

“It’s unfortunate because you want kids to be able to trust people in authority like that,” said White, who works as an educator.

She was handling the press inquiry because regional school board Chairman Richard Peirce said he knew Dempsey and his family personally and did not want to be involved with the situation.

Lynch cited the police department as being cooperative and said he had trust in how Ferreira handled the situation and communicated what was done. He was not made privy to any aspects of the investigation, he said.

“It was dealt with swiftly, and the officer will not be working with children any longer,” Lynch said after being apprised by Ferreira of the disciplinary action and changes Tuesday afternoon.